


Resolutions and Relationships

by Akila



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, During Canon, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Friendship, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25673143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akila/pseuds/Akila
Summary: Zuko is starting to fit in with team Avatar, though Katara still isn't totally sold. He struggles with PTSD following the anniversary of his banishment and finally tells the gaang the whole story.-This is my first ever post here, I really hope you like it. I just always thought it was weird there was never a conversation regarding Zuko's history with the gaang, so I created one. Please leave comments, constructive criticism is appreciated!
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 114





	1. Chapter 1

**Resolution and Relationships**

Zuko stirred the pot hanging over the fire slowly, lost in his own thoughts. He hadn’t even heard the women approaching him from behind as he ran through the events of the last few days. Still housed in the great Western Air Temple, he thought back to the first time he had see this place; just after leaving the fire nation with his Uncle.

Zuko is hauled back to the present by the innocuous clearing of a throat behind him. He snaps his head up from the flames, which had begun rising and falling to the same rhythm as he breathed. To his left he finds the source of the noise: a very pleased looking Toph with Katara laughing softly behind her.

“I told Sugar Queen you’d burn our dinner if we left you alone, and I WAS RIGHT!” Toph yells playfully.

Zuko lifted the ladle from the pot and realizes that this stew is certainly overdone. The meat and potatoes had begun to stick to the bottom, scorching and hardening to the surface, and the smell that filled the air was no longer savory but that of a very charred animal. Katara casts a sidelong glance at Zuko before sighing and approaching the pot. She takes the spoon from his hand and examines the food.

“You made the fire too hot, Zuko, that’s why the meat’s burning,” she muttered coldly. While Katara had slowly warmed up to Zuko, it was still apparent to him that she wished him gone, maybe even dead. He knew she still hated him for his part in the fall of Ba Sing Se, and honestly he kind of did too. But somehow that icy gaze seemed to hold more than just the pain witnessed in the Earth Kingdom capital.

As Zuko pondered Katara’s hatred of him, his thoughts were again interrupted.

“The meat is BURNED?!” Sokka shouts as he runs into the courtyard. He doesn’t hear the entire exchange between the siblings as the man rushed to the pot to inspect the damage himself, but Sokka seems to believe in Katara’s ability to repair the damage done.

 _Great, the whole gang can tell me how terrible at being good I am. I can’t even make a meal right. I’m so stupid, thinking I could be good at something…anything._ Zuko hangs his head as these thoughts swarm his mind. He quietly backed further from the fire, allowing Katara to take over and salvage the mess he had made of their evening meal.

_Fix everything Katara. Take care of everyone Katara. Perfect Katara._

Zuko found himself staring at her as his mind began comparing all the ways she was good, and he was…well not. He sat far enough from the flames that hopefully his rampaging emotions would not affect the heat over which the stew bubbled. The sweet savory smell of seasoned meat again overpowered the burning stench that had filled the air.

_Even after learning the original form of fire bending, my emotion still hold such control over me…Even after everything I’ve done, leaving my home, confronting my father, joining the Avatar…I am still a disgrace. She said it herself in the catacombs…I am the face of the enemy._

Zuko subconsciously brings the tip of his fingers to graze his scar. Three years later and sometimes he still feels his nerves screaming, still sees the blackened spots in his vision of the damaged eye, and sometimes can smell the burning of his own flesh.

Katara finally looks up from the pot, having come in before Zuko did too much damage to the food.

 _Fire benders_ _only know how to burn,_ she thought harshly. She began spooning portions for their growing group, Haru and The Duke still lying low, and of course her dad, Suki, and the others Sokka had saved from The Boiling Rock. 

Everyone sat in a circle to eat their portion near the fountain, several lanterns lighting the massive space. Katara found a spot between Aang and her brother and glances around at people who had become her family. Toph sat close to The Duke and Pipsqueak, laughing and chatting casually. Suki sat curled against Sokka, and even Momo hopped around to find scraps. Katara smiled at the group as she began to eat her supper.

About half way through the meal, Sokka stood and glanced around the courtyard, a look of confusion across his face.

“Hey, where’s Zuko?” he asked, turning to his sister.

“How should I know?” Katara retorts, wincing at her own defensive tone.

“Well, you WERE the last one to speak to him,” Toph chimes in, much to Katara’s chagrin.

“You mean when I repaired the damage HE did to our food?” she all but screams back.

Just then, a clap of thunder interrupts their bickering, and everyone fell silent as the rain began to fall. They all looked back and forth at each other, the food all but forgotten. Aang stood and began walking to the edge of the platform, looking out into the canyon. A crack of lightning illuminated the sky as the rain steadily drizzled down faster and faster.

“We should go look for him. He shouldn’t be out alone in this,” he said. At his words, the entire camp began moving and splitting into teams to search.

Aang turned to face the group and raised his voice to be heard over the now thunderous downpour.

“Alright, Pipsqueak, Duke, search inside the temple. Hopefully he just decided to do some late-night exploring. Haru, you and Hakoda head towards his old campsite, maybe he went looking for something there. Suki, hold our position here in case he comes back. Katara, Sokka, Toph, you’re with me.” His voice echoed through the area and rose above the falling rain.

None hesitated or questioned, despite the orders coming from one of the youngest people present, and as the Gaang began their search, Katara found herself thinking how easy it was to forget the power the boy held.

Zuko stood at the edge of a cliff high up in the canyon. He may not have been as agile as his sister, but he still had ways of getting around. Up so high he probably could’ve seen the whole valley had it not been pouring rain. The storm had begun about halfway into his hike, but he fond himself barely aware of the electricity in the air and dampness of his clothes. His mind was whirling with so many thoughts, each louder than the other, and all reminding him of what happened three years ago. He could hear his father’s voice as though he sat right beside him,

“You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.”

Those words echo so loudly in his mind that he doesn’t hear the approach of the bison. He doesn’t hear Aang’s shout from above, nor the landing of the giant beast on the cliff side just below him.

“Suffering will be your teacher, Prince Zuko.”

Only when a hand grasps his shoulder do his eyes open and his focus returns to the present. He instinctively whirls on his opponent, flames already crackling at his fingertips. But it is not whom he suspects. There is no long black hair elegantly pushed behind him, nor golden eyes flashing with mirth at his pain. Instead he meets the calm, steady gaze of the last air bender.

Aang does not flinch. Instead, he meets the gaze of the banished prince. He does not move away from the man brandishing his fiery weapon, but simply holds his shoulder and stares into the older boy.

Zuko’s face suddenly changes from a look of pain and hatred, to recognition, to sorrow so quickly the air nomad would have missed he had he not watched so intently. The fire disappears as quickly as it came. The fire prince stands stone still a moment until his legs begin to shake, as do his hands. Before he knows it he is on his knees, face in his hands, with hot tears streaming down his face. He feels the pressure of someone holding him, grounding him. He cannot speak, but his grip on the young Avatar’s arm gives away his grief, as well as his need for comfort. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Zuko sat on Appa’s back wrapped in a blanket. After the air bender had made his way down to Zuko’s private little cliff, he had managed to coax him into returning to the temple with them. Of course, he had not realized the Avatar had brought others until after he scurried into the saddle atop the massive bison dripping wet. Now he sat beside Sokka as he sharpened his sword, Katara pointedly ignoring him, and Toph…well Toph was trying not to throw up over the side. Aang sat in front holding the reins as usual, though he wondered if it was not partially to avoid the tense silence between his friends. His black hair was still dripping, but he refused to dry it. That would make it all too apparent that the rain wasn’t the only source of water. The tears continued to fall slowly, silently, throughout the trip. But before long, Appa roared to tell them they were about to land. When they arrived back in the air temple courtyard, Zuko jumped from the saddle and began to head inside.

As he silently strode past the fountain, a voice called from behnd him.

“Where do you think YOU’RE going, Broody?” Toph yelled as soon as her feet hit the ground. The rest of the group turned to stare at his retreating form as Toph rushed to him. He knew there was no hiding from the blind earth bender and her seismic sense, so he simply waited for the others to catch up. Before long, the four surrounded him, each with a different expression on their face.

Aang looked like a mother worried over her child, and he was obviously fighting himself on how to approach the situation. Toph looked slightly irritated, but mostly curious as to what was going on. Sokka seemed as though he understood why Zuko left, though it was unlikely he had guessed correctly. And Katara looked completely and utterly bored. Zuko glanced at each of them silently but could not meet a single one of their eyes.

“Zuko…” Aang began tentatively. The exiled prince closed his eyes at the sound of his name, face scrunching up in pain.

_Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!_

“Wait. Everyone back off!” Toph shouted to her friends. The courtyard fell completely silent at her outburst, and even Zuko had snapped to attention. She approached the fire bender who immediately stiffened at her approach. He took a few steps back before bumping into the fountain and stumbling. Toph continued her advance until she stood so close to him, she could feel his rapid breathing on the top of her head. She knelt down placed a palm to the sone beneath her.

“Your heart is beating too fast, like we’re in the middle of a battle. And breathing is erratic. Something’s wrong,” She mumbles to the prince.

He ran a hand through his hair; he could hear the blood roaring in his ears. He did not hear her continue.

“It’s just like when Twinkle Toes woke up on the fire navy ship after Ba Sing Se. He is panicking for some reason. It’s like he is fighting someone, but…” she trails off as the group turns to look at Zuko.

The fire bender recoils from their glances.

_They will all watch you suffer, just as before._

Zuko vaults himself over the fountain and runs toward the ledge

_Away, away, got to get away. Not again, Father, not again._

Broken thoughts fill his mind, everything so loud he cannot tell the voices of his companions from the lies within his head. He is close to the ledge, near the waterfall, reaching for the open air, for an escape. And then there is pain and darkness.

Katara has several bowls and pitchers filled with water around her, as well as various rags and towels. She is crouched beside what appears to be a peacefully sleeping Zuko, as though he had not nearly leapt off the side of the temple to his death and hadn’t received a rather impressive blow to the head. Toph felt bad about hitting hi so hard, but at least this was something Katara could fix. But if he tried again…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a forceful grab of her wrist. She gasped as she looked up to meet the golden eyes of her patient. He looked fearful, like a wounded dog who simply expected to be kicked again, and her heart softened just a little for the banished prince.

“Katara…” he whispers, taking his other hand and caressing her cheek gently. She is taken aback by the unexpected gesture and feels heat rise to her cheeks.

_Don’t be stupid, Katara, his head hit the floor so hard it bounced. He has no idea what he is doing._

She shakes her head to clear it and begins using her healing abilities to locate the break in his mind, and hopefully the source of all this insanity. She worked on him for nearly an hour. The night was bleeding away into a clear dawn, the rain and thunder a memory. Birds began to signal the coming of morning and the others had passed out as she looked after Zuko.

“You should get some sleep too,” she hears him whisper.

“I won’t leave you unsupervised” she says, forcing a bite in her tone. He flinches at her retort, and she feels a pang of guilt for being so harsh after everything.

“I just mean you shouldn’t be alone Zuko. Whatever is going on with you, you don’t have to be alone in it.”

It falls silent for a moment after that, and just as she is about to drift off to sleep, she hears it; a broken sob.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Zuko tries so hard to stifle his cries, unwilling to share this pain with anyone, particularly the water bender who has made her hate of him clear.

_But then why would she say such things? “You shouldn’t be alone, Zuko.” Why would she care if I am alone, or if I am alive for that matter?_

He cannot show weakness here, he must be strong, always be strong, always fight.

_“Rise and Fight, Prince Zuko!”_

The words still circle his mind. He glances to the horizon to see the first pink trails of dawn and hears stirring in the camp. He breathes deeply and tries to center himself and leave these unproductive thoughts behind. He sits up, head aching from…

_Wait, what happened last night? I remember leaving the temple…_

His thoughts are interrupted as the gang once again surrounds the price.

“Alright, it’s time to spill. What is going on, Zuko?” Toph asks with her usual bluntness.

“I…um I don’t know what your talking about,” he stutters.

Toph sighs and throws up her hands in defeat, revealing Aang approaching with a bowl of porridge and bread.

“Zuko,” he begins, “this is serious. I need to know what happened last night.”

Zuko takes a deep breath and begins picking at the bread.

“I guess there’s no point in hiding this anymore. Besides you’d probably find out eventually since we will be spending lots of time in the fire nation.” Zuko speaks lowly and scorn fills the last words.

“Yesterday was the anniversary of my banishment…and it’s never something I handle very well. Usually Uncle Iroh will make tea and try to keep me…I don’t know, grounded? He’s always been pretty good at taking care of me,” a small smile slips over his lips as he speaks of his uncle, but it does not reach those yellow eyes.

“This is the first time I haven’t had Uncle with me when it happened…I didn’t even know it was so bad.”

Toph chimes in, “So you were thinking about how your family kicked you to the curb, and that made you want to jump off an air temple?” She chuckles slightly at her attempt to liven up this party, but tears start to prick Zuko’s eyes. He turns away.

“Not exactly,” he says more distantly. Everyone looks at him seriously, waiting for him to continue.

“The day of my banishment started like any other. I was thirteen, and I had been allowed to sit in on a war meeting. I was so excited when Uncle told me I could observe, under the condition I stay silent.” He took a cleansing breath before continuing.

“I was expected to be the perfect prince, just as Azula is the perfect princess. I was never to peak out against my country, my family…” the tears flowed more freely now. Eyes closed and face turned away, Zuko continued his tale.

“A general offered a plan…to use new recruits as bait to lure out earth kingdom ships…and my father was considering it! I couldn’t allow these citizens…these _CHILDREN…_ to be sacrificed in such a way…” he paused, struggling to maintain even breaths.

“What happened, Zuko?” It was Katara who mumbled the question, hand over her trembling lips, afraid of where this was going.

“I was challenged to an Agni Kai. A fire duel.”

Then everyone jumped up yelling at once

“The general would challenge a child?!” cried Sokka

“But you were a prince! How could a general challenge you?” Aang asked

“Did you accept?” Toph said nonchalantly.

Only Katara remained silent. She had heard rumors of this…a fre nation boy fighting a duel with…oh no.

“I did accept,” Zuko continued, voice becoming strained, “and the Agni Kai took place that very afternoon. I arrived first and took my place, facing away from where my opponent would enter, only to face them when the fight was to begin. And it was not the general…”

Katara moved closer to the dark-headed boy struggling to speak. Tears fell down her face as she raised a hand to his left cheek, to his scar, and lightly brushed her fingertips over the ruined flesh.

Zuko looked up and met her gaze, eyes red and face tear-streaked. He took another deep breath as he prepared to continue.

“It wasn’t the general who I had offended by speaking out. It was the Fire Lord himself. My father.” Zuko’s voce broke at this.

“Zuko, you don’t have to go on…” Katara tried. She was crying freely now, and she could tell by the stifled sniffles behind her she was not alone.

“No. Someone should know…” he whispered to her. She nodded her head and grabbed his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

“When I turned to see my father was my opponent, I panicked. This is a man who had threatened my life, stole my mother from me…but surely even he had limits I thought. I fell to my knees, pleading with him, apologizing, promising to be a better prince and son…he commanded me to fight.

_Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!_

“He thought I was weak for refusing to battle him in the arena, and when I told him I was his loyal son and would not strike him, he…. he” Zuko stuttered, voice breaking into sobs. The entire gang was crying now, even Toph had to wipe away the tears.

Zuko screamed, his hand breaking from Katara’s grip and reaching up, clawing at his scar. He dropped on the ground and began muttering to himself. Katara approached him cautiously, getting close enough to hear what he was whispering under his breath, and when she does, she feels like she just got punched in the gut.

“I’m sorry, father,” he whispers. Over and over.

Katara reaches out to touch him, but he cringes from her immediately, screaming as though he’d been burned.

“Zuko, please, let me help you,” Katara says, trying to keep her voice even. Aang comes up beside her and pats her shoulder.

“Give him time, Katara,” he states, and turns away.

A few hours pass and Katara has barely taken her eyes off Zuko.

_How could I never realize? I heard rumors around the fire nation of how the prince got his scar, but most believed it was a training accident and all other tales were idle gossip. Even I never thought the Fire Lord to be so cruel._

Zuko had finally fallen asleep after quite a while of mumbling, screaming, and crying. Of course, the whole group had spent some time drying their eyes after such a story. She approached his sleeping form, pulled the water from the pouch, surrounding her hands with it. Then she tried to ease the ache in Zuko’s mind.

His eyes snapped open immediately and a look of fear captured the young man’s face. But Katara continued her soothing menstruations until his posture relaxed. She pushed the water back into her pouch and sat beside the prince she had thought she’d known.

“Walk with me,” Zuko said as he stood and stretched. Katara followed suit and soon they were deep in the halls of the air temple.

“Do you remember back in the catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se, when we were imprisoned together?” He asks in a monotone voice.

“Of course I do. Then you tried to kill us,” she added, but the intended venom in her voice was significantly lacking.

“Yeah…nevermind.”

“No…I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. Why were you asking?” she pulled at the ends of her hair. Being alone with Zuko had always been tense for her but this was different.

 _Like a good tense?_ She thought. She had no idea, in all honesty though.

“You said that when you pictured the face of the enemy, it was my face you saw.” Zuko closed his eyes and recalled the events as though they were yesterday.

“You know I didn’t mean…”

“I know, Katara. But…back then you said you could, well ,you _might_ could… fix it? With the water?” He spoke tentatively, a slight shake in his voice.

“Oh, Zuko…” She began apologetically.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But I knew it would kill me if you could and I never asked.”

They avoided each other’s gaze for a moment as an awkward silence filled the room.

“Well,” Zuko started, “I suppose my father will get what he wanted then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well just before he, uh, struck the blow,” he pointed at the scar as he spoke, “he said that I was to learn respect, and this suffering would be my teacher. And I will always carry a reminder of it on my face. Always the first thing people notice. The mark of the banished prince: hated and cast out by all, even his own father. And a face not even a mother could love.”

Katara was speechless.

 _A lesson? He thinks he should learn something from his father burning him?! And to learn respect of all things from that kind of abuse! To think this marks him as something unlovable!_ Her mind raged and before she knew what she was doing. She places a hand on either side of Zuko’s face and places her nose mere inches from his.

“Zuko, listen to me. You are a kind, gentle, wonderful person who has given up everything to be better than he was taught to be. You have learned much, and yes so much was through suffering, but this, your scar, your _father_ , is what you suffered. And you rose above it. Your scar shows that you are strong, that you’re a fighter. It is the mark of a selfless man who would die to save the world, and a _beautiful_ man at that!”

Katara took a breath after finishing her rant and looked at Zuko’s very shocked and flushed face. She took a step back as she realized she could feel his breath on her face but he grabbed her hands to halt her retreat.

“Katara,” he whispers, fresh tears falling. He pulls her close once again, putting his forehead to hers and says, “Thank you. Thank you so much…”

She looks up into those golden eyes shimmering with unshed tears, and she fells her own blue eyes well up too, and before she knows it, she’s kissing him. The fire bender who raided her village. The soldier who kidnapped Aang. The angry prince who tracked them down time and time again. The teenager who hasn’t known a kind touch in far too long.

Their kiss lingers on a moment until they both pull back, looking equally flustered. And as they return to the courtyard where the others remain, Zuko can’t help but watch her move.

 _She is beautiful. And she doesn’t hate me._ He thought to himself.

It's a start.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I may continue this story if it is well received. I hope you liked it!


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